Story of The Hour
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Taniesha Spratt
3/24/04
English 101
"The Story of an Hour"
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, opens with the scene in which Mrs. Mallard is about to be informed by her sister, Josephine, of Mr. Mallard's death: "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death" (631). At the end of the story, it becomes clear that this sentence foreshadows the story's climax. Chopin lets the reader in on what fate lies ahead for Mrs. Mallard by hinting at what lies ahead--her death--without giving any major information away.
Mrs. Mallard's awkward attitude after learning of her husband's death establishes an irony. Josephine and Richards, certainly, were expecting far more emotion than she (Mrs...